


Light My Way Back Home

by rage_quitter



Series: Roleswap Crew [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Backstory reveals, Fake AH Crew, Gavin gets fucking punched too rip in rip dude, M/M, Roleswap AU, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:07:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8568958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rage_quitter/pseuds/rage_quitter
Summary: Building bridges to replace the ones they burned.





	

**Author's Note:**

> LOOK. i know. title is from a fall out boy song. dont judge me.   
> Roleswap crew:  
> Jeremy > boss  
> Michael > infiltrator/intel gathering  
> Gavin > explosion guy  
> Geoff > second in command/pilot/driver  
> Jack > murder guy/vagabond  
> Ryan > negotiator/assassin/golden boy

Gavin tried hard not to swallow. The taste of copper in his mouth burned, made him sick. He turned his head and spat. The glob of red stuck to the floor. 

“You fuckin’ done yet, you piece of shit?” snarled the drunken man who was pinning him to a table. His knuckles were red and raw from breaking Gavin’s nose. 

Gavin could still taste blood in his mouth. He’d bitten his tongue in the punch. He grinned up at the man. “You’re a bloody coward, you are,” he said, voice thick from his swollen nose. “Can’t think of words to defend yourself so you’re beatin’ me up. Makes you feel like a big boy, dunnit?”

The man brought down his fist again. Pain exploded in Gavin’s face. The other people in the bar had visceral reactions, from hisses of sympathy to jeers of victory. “You little bitch, shut your mouth, I’ll kill you!”

Gavin giggled. His face hurt, his arm hurt, his side hurt. It wasn’t shit. “Hey, hey, wait, I got a question first.” He leaned forward, and the man, in clear confusion, allowed him. “How d’you figure the Fakes would much appreciate that?” 

Without giving him time to respond, Gavin slammed his head forward, knocking into his face. He heard a satisfying crunching sound and a shriek of pain. The man let go. Gavin flew forward and threw out a punch, connecting with his neck. His kick knocked the wind out of the man, and the next knocked the man over, possibly breaking a knee, or at least making it hurt like hell.

Gavin stood over him and wiped the blood from his face. It did little good, only smearing it. He grinned crookedly down at him. “Look, buddy, I had loads of fun, but maybe think about who you’re punching before you do it,” he said. “And this was just me. Be grateful the rest of my friends ain’t here. You’re lucky you’re even alive.”

Gavin turned to leave. He felt fingers wrap around his ankle.

Without missing a beat, Gavin had a pistol pulled from inside his leather jacket. The barrel aimed squarely at the man. “Mate,” he said calmly. “You better let go.” He flicked off the safety. “Now. I’ll paint the bar with your blood.”

The fingers retreated. 

Gavin scoffed and hid his gun again. “Smart choice.” 

The silent patrons watched him leave. He heard their whispers erupt the second he stepped out the door. 

Outside, he cracked his bruising knuckles and lifted his sleeve to his face. “Target found,” he said calmly. “Should I kill him now?”

“No,” Michael’s voice returned in his ear. “I’ll follow him out. I’m guessing you made it easy for me to follow him?”

Gavin giggled. “That’s one way of putting it. Look for the asshole leaving in an ambulance.”

“God dammit, Gavin.” Michael sighed. “At least you didn’t unload a rocket in this fucker.”

“That was one time, Michael!”

“One time too many! Come on, boi. Go get cleaned up. I’ll take care of the rest. Jack’s with me.”

“Okay, good. See you later, boi.”

Gavin tried to wipe off more blood, but cursed as touching his face made his nose throb in pain. Gritting his teeth, he headed for the back of the parking lot. 

Sitting in the driver’s seat, examining the rings on his fingers, sat Ryan. He was dressed down, in a fitted shirt and jeans and Converse instead of his usual golden getup. He was even wearing less jewelry than usual, though a fair amount seemed glued to his skin. Gavin knocked on the window.

Ryan jumped and looked over. He blinked, and his too-blue eyes widened. He unlocked the doors and Gavin slid into the passenger seat.

“Jesus,” Ryan said. “Did you get hit by a fucking bus getting here? What the fuck?”

“Got in a little bit of a kerfuffle with the target,” Gavin explained with a pained laugh. “He looks way worse, though. Might’ve broken his nose. And a rib. Or two.”

“Let’s go get you cleaned up,” Ryan said. “And get ice on that nose. Yikes. That’s a lot of blood.”

Gavin shrugged. “Head wounds bleed a lot.”

“Please don’t bleed on my car.”

“I’ll do my best,” Gavin said with a roll of his eyes. He leaned his head back on the seat as Ryan backed up.

“Gav,” Ryan said. “Don’t lean your head back if you’ve got a bloody nose. It can get in your throat.”

Gavin grimaced and sat up again. “It’s not that bad.”

Ryan scoffed. “It looks like he took a meat tenderizer to your face.”

“Looks worse than it is.”

Ryan sighed. “Don’t give me that bull,” he said. “I’ve had my fair share of broken noses and face punches.”

“You don’t get in the front line that much,” Gavin dismissed.

“I wasn’t talking about my time in the Crew, Gavin.”

Gavin frowned and looked over at Ryan. “What happened before, then? You never really talk about your past.”

“That’s ‘cause it fucking sucked.” Ryan laughed, but the sound was tinged with bitterness. 

“What happened?” Gavin asked again, curious and cautious.

“I’m a pansexual trans man who grew up in Conservativesville, Georgia,” Ryan said dryly. The yellow streetlights glimmered off his jewelry and piercings. “Take a wild fucking guess.”

“I’m sorry, Ry,” Gavin said softly. “I didn’t…”

“Nah, it’s cool,” he said, too cheerfully. “Don’t worry about it. It’s over with now.” His voice softened. “I’m happy where I am today. With who I am today. I have a real family.”

“Aww, Ryan, that’s sweet.” Gavin smiled at him. “It’s true! We are your family! Uh, quick question though, can I have the names of everyone who’s ever hurt you so I can destroy them?”

Ryan laughed. “It would be a fucking novel, starting with good ol’ Mama and Papa Haywood. Don’t worry, though, a good amount of them are dead already. I’ve burned a few bridges... and houses.”

“Good,” Gavin said viciously. “Anyone who’d want to hurt you deserves it.”

“I’m glad you think that, Gavin,” said Ryan. There was something odd in his voice. 

They sat in silence for another few minutes. 

“When I was growing up,” Gavin said, “I only had one friend. Dan. I think I’ve mentioned him before.”

Ryan’s eyes were on the road, but he nodded.

“He, uh… well, he was closer to me than anyone else in the world for a really long time. We grew up in a pretty accepting community, I guess, so when no one was really surprised when we started dating. But… I scared him. He was always really cautious around me. I was one of those kids, you know, lightning bugs on fire with a magnifying glass, playing with firecrackers, stealing matches. It didn’t get better as I got older, and I kept dragging Dan into it too. I don’t really know why, honestly, I guess just ‘cause he was my friend, and I wanted to show him how beautiful fire was. It always looked absolutely lovely in his eyes. I told him that. Maybe that’s why I never stopped, or maybe I’ve always been a pyromaniac.”

Ryan glanced toward him. 

Gavin stared down at his hands, the violet blossoming across his knuckles, the blood staining the cracks of his skin and caking his fingernails. “Either way. He was scared of me. I wanted to use fire to keep him safe, to show off how much I cared about him, burn his name in the earth for everyone to see. I loved him. I was young, I was stupid, but I loved Dan. And I scared him. I think he loved me, though. When there were just embers, no flickering flames, I saw how he looked at me. We never really… talked too much about it. We were dumb and young and didn’t know how to talk about it.”

Gavin took a deep breath. “He’s still alive, you know. I tracked him down. He joined the British Army after I vanished. Does some photography in the side. He always loved takin’ pictures, he taught me, a bit. I wanted to talk to him. Tell him hello. Tell him I’m… y’know, not dead. Tell him I’m sorry for vanishing like I did, tell him what happened. That the fire wasn’t my fault that time. But… I can’t. I know I can’t. He can’t ever know. It’s better if he thinks I’m dead. It’s better if he thinks I burned up seven years ago, doesn’t know I’m alive, a gang member in America. I’m worse now, with the fire stuff, just… more practiced. He’d think I’m a monster. So it’s better this way.”

There was silence for another minute.

“I never told anyone else about Dan,” Gavin told Ryan. “You… told me about your past. I’m sorry.”

“I know how you feel,” Ryan said softly. “Loving someone, having to go, letting them think you’re dead and gone. I’m so sorry that we share that in common.”

“It’s terrible, innit?” Gavin managed a strangled smile. “We’re a mess, Ryan.”

“We’re all a mess,” Ryan agreed. “But we have each other now.”

“We do, absolutely.” Gavin picked at the blood on his jacket. “I bet my body count is a whole lot much higher than Dan’s. He always thought I was squeamish.”

“You are squeamish.”

“Well-- okay, with some stuff!”

Ryan laughed. “It’s okay, Gav. I’m sure if my parents are watching me through the fires of hell, they’ll know I’ve deserved a spot right beside them with how many lives I’ve ended, too.”

“Aw, don’t say that, Ryebread. We might not be perfect, and we might, yeah, be criminals, but we’re good people.”

“Mostly.”

“Mostly.”

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is rage-quitter for more ah au adventures and nonsense!


End file.
